My Goal Is to Always Smell Expensive—13 Elegant Perfumes That Never Miss

If I asked you to describe the scent of an elegant perfume, you’d probably need a moment to consider your response. Maybe you’d think back to the signature scent of an elegant family member, or a perfume favoured by a boss you once admired. Or, maybe you’d think of an expensive-smelling scent that you yourself wear that always makes you feel polished and earns heaps of compliments.

The truth is, what we consider an elegant scent often varies from person to person. Yet, while it’s difficult to pinpoint what elegance actually smells like, if I asked you, ‘Do you want to smell elegant?’, I can practically guarantee the answer would be an instantaneous yes.

It’s this continuous quest for elegance that drives my own personal perfume habit. Enter my bedroom and you’ll find an ever-growing collection of rich, woody scents and sweet, creamy perfumes, as well as options that pack a little more punch. It’s an assortment that’s as varied as it is vast. Yet, what do all my chosen scents have in common? I gravitate towards fragrances that, to me (and hopefully to those around me, too), smell elegant and expensive.